𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕤 𝕆𝕗 𝔾𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕣 | 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑳𝒆𝒐𝒏

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 16: 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈

I curse to the Pokémon god above, my arms holding a heavy paper bag of food and other supplies as my other knocks hurriedly on Leon's apartment door. I woke up this morning thinking it was going to be another hellish day only to be scolded by Miss Oleana, turns out Leon got himself sick. My guess? He finally crashed from stress and overexertion. We found out yesterday that the chairman is going to open up some exhibition matches between the gym leaders for some publicity. I saw the exact moment Leon's will snapped when Chairman Rose announced it at a Gym leader conference.

When the meeting ended I didn't even allow myself time to meet the other gym leaders before I was dragging Leon out of the room. The usually loud and cheery man was dead silent, the change had my soul squirming. I expected him to lash out, scream, yell, cry, not to continue on like nothing happened. As bad as it is for him to fall sick, it makes me feel better, knowing I don't have to feel like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.

My thoughts are broken when Leon opens the door, face flushed and eyes droopy. His hair is a mess and he's wrapped up in a blanket, I press the back of my hand against his forehead and tisk when I feel the heat that scorches off of him. "Come on Leon, off to bed." I sigh, pushing him into the apartment, Leon lets out a gurgled hum and shuffles back to his bedroom as I close the door. I place the paper bag on the table, I look down the hallway to see Leon walk into his bedroom before looking over the room.

His kitchen is full of dirty dishes and take out boxes, clothes and other items tossed all over the living room and open dining room. I can only imagine what his bathroom and bedroom looks like, but I shutter at the thought of that damn closet. Licking my lips I let out a sigh, I rolled my neck and dug into my bag for my pokéballs. I let Zarude, Ninetails, and Houndoom out of their balls.

"Alright guys, we have a lot of work ahead of us. Za and doom your on living room duty. Make sure you separate things and put away anything that belongs in the room, I'll take care of the rest when Tails and I finish the kitchen." I instruct. The Pokémon lets out noises of agreement before walking off to their assigned areas. Ninetails and I posted ourselves in the kitchen for deep cleaning. I washed the dishes and dried them as Tails stood on a chair and put them away. When the dishes were done I cleaned off the surfaces before putting on a pot of berry and herbal soup, a clever mix of Galar and Kalos recipes, perfect for a sick day.

Once I had the soup started I moved on to a Kalos specialty, Poképuffs, a little something for Leon's Pokémon and mine. I mix the dough up in a bowl before dividing it up, a Poképuff or two for all of Leon's different Pokémon. However, I add my own little flare to the recipes, something that makes you really tell care was put into it. I dig out some rags and tossed one over each bowl to let it rise, before I swept and mopped the floor. Tails pushing a rag behind me to dry it off so no one slips, it was almost funny watching her put a slight hop to every push she made.

I grin at the sight of a clean kitchen, the flaring of my hard habits dying down a little. I let out a satisfied breath before moving onto the living room, my two other Pokémon wandering the living space searching for anything that may need put away or sorted. Most of what the sort pile is clothing, thankfully. "Good job boys," I smile over to them, the two Pokémon make proud noises before moving on to wander the apartment. I gather up the clothes in my hand and make my way down the hall. I know where the bathroom is and Leon's bedroom, hopefully this third door is the laundry room.

Upon opening the room I met with a messy, but functional laundry room. I felt my eyes twitch at the mess. I take three deep breaths before putting the clothes down and moving on to the bathroom. By whatever logic there was to Leon, the bathroom doesn't have a single garment in there. Not one shirt, not one pair of shorts, not even a sock. I shook off the odd feeling of resentment to the man and took out the cleaning supplies from under the sink.